San Mateo man missing after falling into ocean at Salt Point State Park

A San Mateo man who slipped off some rocks and into the ocean at Salt Point State Park remained missing Thursday evening, despite a continued aerial search throughout the day, the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office said.

Li Shen Su, 65, was last seen around 2:30 p.m. Wednesday when he fell into rough surf in south Gerstle Cove while climbing out to a popular fishing point with four friends, according to Sheriff’s Sgt. Spencer Crum.

Su was washed back and forth in the churning water before disappearing from view, and his friends never saw him again, said Tim Murphy, supervising state parks lifeguard on the Sonoma Coast.

But they had no cellphone coverage to summon help and had to hike back to their vehicle and drive about 7 miles to Fort Ross State Park to alert a ranger, emergency personnel said.

By then, more than two hours had elapsed since Su’s misstep, and a language barrier contributed to confusion, they said.

Murphy said one of Su’s companions led park personnel to the site of the fall, where 6- to 8-foot waves were breaking on the rocks, and it was too unsafe to start a rescue swimmer.

“It was very dangerous,” Murphy said. “There was a lot of white water. It would have been very unsafe to put personnel in that area, since we’d never had a visual on him.”

The Sonoma County sheriff’s helicopter, Henry 1, started an immediate search, joined by a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter and a motor lifeboat out of the Coast Guard’s Doran Beach station, but they were unable to find Su, authorities said.

The Coast Guard kept the cutter on-site throughout the night and conducted an aerial search at first light Thursday, suspending the search when there still was no sign of Su, an agency spokeswoman said.

Henry 1 was launched later in the day, again without success, Crum said.

Murphy said rescues in Gerstle Cove are not uncommon, though they more often involve abalone divers or boaters who end up too close to the rocks. This year’s abalone season has been canceled.

You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan at 707-521-5249 or mary.callahan@pressdemocrat.com.